SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., June 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Second Genome, Inc., a leader in the development of novel medicines through innovative microbiome science, announced today that the company has been selected among hundreds of candidates as one of the World Economic Forum's Technology Pioneers, a selection of the world's most innovative companies.

"We are humbled to be acknowledged as a Technology Pioneer by the World Economic Forum alongside other amazing leaders across industries," said Glenn Nedwin, Ph.D., MoT, president and chief executive officer of Second Genome. "We continue to endeavor to lead a paradigm shift in science and medicine by harnessing the power of the microbiome to produce new products for health and wellness, as well as other industries like agriculture. Using our novel microbiome biology, bioinformatics and machine learning technology platform, we have discovered more than 40 bioactive molecules and bacterial strains from the human microbiome that are relevant as potential therapeutics in diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease, metabolic disease and immuno-oncology. Human health is about to be radically transformed by microbiome science."

"We welcome Second Genome in this group of extraordinary pioneers," says Fulvia Montresor, Head of Technology Pioneers at the World Economic Forum. "We hope that thanks to this selection, the World Economic Forum can facilitate greater collaboration with business leaders, governments, civil society and other relevant individuals to accelerate the development of technological solutions to the world's greatest challenges."

The World Economic Forum's Technology Pioneers community are early-stage companies from around the world that are involved in the design, development and deployment of new technologies and innovations, and are poised to have a significant impact on business and society. The 30 technology pioneers that made it to the final selection are active in artificial intelligence, augmented reality, autonomous vehicles, biotechnology, blockchain, cybersecurity, the (industrial) internet of things, and other pioneering technologies.

The Technology Pioneers were selected by a selection committee of more than 60 academics, entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and corporate executives. Notable members of the committee include Geoffrey Moore (Adviser, Geoffrey Moore Consulting, USA), Yossi Vardi (Chairman, International Technologies, Israel) and Lee Sang-Yup (Distinguished Professor and Dean, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Republic of Korea). The committee based its decisions on criteria including innovation, potential impact and leadership. Past recipients include Airbnb, Google, Kickstarter, Mozilla, Palantir Technologies, Scribd, Spotify, Twitter and Wikimedia.

Second Genome's mission is to transform lives with medicines developed through innovative microbiome science. Second Genome has built a novel platform for microbiome drug discovery. The company has established a pipeline of therapeutic products for the treatment of inflammation and metabolic diseases. Please visit www.secondgenome.com for more information.

About World Economic Forum

The World Economic Forum, committed to improving the state of the world, is the International Organization for Public-Private Cooperation. The Forum engages the foremost political, business and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas. (www.weforum.org).